Kaduna airport awaits Ethiopian Airlines flights
There is new hope at the Kaduna International Airport as Ethiopian Airlines (often referred to as simply Ethiopian), the national carrier of Ethiopia, prepares to begin operations from the airport.
The airline recently disclosed that it had finalized preparations to start scheduled flights thrice weekly to Kaduna from August 1, 2017.
It would be recalled that many airlines except Ethiopian refused flying to Kaduna when flights were diverted there from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja for six weeks.
Immediately after the reopening of the Abuja airport, the Kaduna airport became a shadow of itself as most or all activities stopped and the airport resumed skeletal domestic flights.
Our correspondent gathered that Ethiopian Airlines has since the diversion planned to make Kaduna a hub of its flights in Nigeria because it regards Kaduna as a trade center and a major transportation hub for surrounding agricultural areas with its rail and road junctions.
The Group Chief Executive Officer of the airline, Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam, said: “We are pleased to commence scheduled operations to Kaduna, a fifth city in Nigeria. As a pan-African airline serving our beloved continent, Africa has always been a source of pride to Ethiopian Airlines.”
“With this commitment, Ethiopian has been able to create a missing link, availing easy movement of Africans from one corner to the other. During the temporary closure of the Abuja airport for reconstruction four months ago, we were the first foreign carrier to land at Kaduna airport, allowing our passengers to experience ultimate comfort on board our B-787 Dreamliner. In line with our long term strategic roadmap, Vision 2025, expanding and availing a more efficient intra-African network will remain the core of our operation and we shall keep on playing the positive role in catalyzing the socio-economic development of our continent.”
He added, “With the addition of Kaduna, Ethiopian totally operates 23 weekly flights to Nigeria’s main cities namely; Abuja, Lagos, Enugu and Kano. Ethiopian Airlines’ maiden flight to Nigeria dates back to the 1960’s, same time the country got independence.”
The Station Manager, Azman Air, at the Kaduna International Airport, Ahmed Sani Aliyu, said the commencement of Ethiopian’s flights from Kaduna is a welcome development, adding, “It will bring passenger traffic to the airport, thereby increasing the number of local flights at the airport and generally boosting the economy of the airport and the state at large.”
He added, “When the airline starts operation, we will in turn have more passengers as more people become aware of their flights. You will find out that many people will board a vehicle to Abuja to catch an international flight. When Abuja moved to Kaduna, we recorded a lot of passengers and we also increased our flights to five and Med-View airline increased their flights from twice a week to six times a week.
“Unfortunately, when Abuja resumed, we also moved back to our one flight a day routine but Med-View maintained their routine,” he noted.
Commenting on if their flights will be increased when Ethiopian commences operation, he said, “It depends on the passenger traffic because if there are no passengers we cannot increase our flights because we will be running at a loss.”
The Airport Manager, Amina Uzi-Salami, said, “The airline has always shown a very friendly move and they have shown that we are all Africans and are truly friends of Nigerians. When the others refused to come, they came and were the only international airline that operated from Kaduna and right from then, we began to lure them to come and continue their operations here.
“They told us in a very straight forward term that they would come back, not immediately, but after two or three months because they needed to discus with their management so that they could take decisions on their analysis of passengers they have from Kaduna at that time.
“Their first flight is going to be on the 1st of August, 2017 and from here they are going to operate three flights a week. We were even thinking it was going to be one or two, but they said they are going to have three flights a week which is a good thing for Kaduna airport and Kaduna State because many people usually travel to Abuja to catch Ethiopian Airlines.
“I wanted to travel, but I said I would wait for Ethiopian to come to Kaduna, so I am waiting for them to travel because once you get to Addis Ababa, you can get to any part of the world,” she added.
Commenting on how the flights will boost the economy of the airport and the state, she said, “No doubt, you know that we charge some fees for them to operate here, of course, if they come, it is an international airline, based on their landings and so on, we charge, so of course it is going to improve our revenue and for the state, with the hotels, some people will have to spend the night in Kaduna and hotels will make their money and pay more tax to Kaduna State, so it is a plus to all of us.”
Commenting on challenges at the airport, she said, “Before the six weeks diversion, we had a lot of challenges, but during the operations, we were able to overcome these challenges, so right know, we are ready for them and our facilities are okay because they have been upgraded and I don’t think we envisage any challenges.”
On security, she said, “I would say the aviation security has its own jurisdiction and their jurisdiction is to take care of our passengers and luggage but once it is outside the airport, the state takes over and I know the state has done a lot and they are helping to provide patrol vehicles from the roundabout to the access gate.”
